


Yesterday Seems So Far Away

by Lucky107



Series: Only You (And You Alone) [5]
Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: Gen, Injury Recovery, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-13 03:31:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14741231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucky107/pseuds/Lucky107
Summary: He sits on an old folding chair at the foot of the couch for a straight day.





	Yesterday Seems So Far Away

Sunny recovers in stages from her time at the Grandview Hotel.

Her time in _the chair_.

It’s Tammy who initially suggests that she be monitored until the full effects of Jacob’s brainwashing can be determined, but Wheaty who volunteers to take on the role.

He sits on an old folding chair at the foot of the couch for a straight day, alternating between thumbing through Eli’s hunting magazines and plucking the strings of his guitar. Midnight, however, finds him sitting idle while watching the steady rise and fall of Sunny’s chest as she sleeps.

If it weren’t for the crude detoxification efforts— _Get Free_ blares at her from a portable radio on the television stand—the moment might almost be peaceful.

But it isn’t.

Wheaty’s tired mind encourages him to entertain the idea that Sunny may never wake up again.

Even if she does wake up, he thinks, how much of that person will be the Sunny Regis he knows and how much of her will be the monster that Jacob’s created? It’s a thought that makes him feel nauseous.

He doesn’t want to think about it, but his mind won’t allow him to focus on anything but that rhythmic rise and fall.

_What if…_

Wheaty winds up so lost in the what-ifs that he doesn’t hear Eli come down the corridor until the older man has placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. Wheaty jumps and Eli offers a sleep-depraved, “You been here all night, kid?”

But he doesn’t even have to see the exhaustion on Wheaty’s face to know the answer.

Nobody has slept a wink since Sunny’s return.

“I can’t just _leave_ her,” Wheaty says quietly, as if to not wake her up over the music. “Is she… damn it, is she even going to make it out of this, Eli?”

“I don’t know, Wheaty.”

And for a long while nobody says much of anything.

Sunny looks like a corpse laid out on the old chesterfield with dark circles around her eyes and unidentifiable muck caked into her red hair. Her skin is pallid and papery from days without sunlight or life, clinging to her bones as if by habit alone.

“Go on and take a break now,” Eli says finally, his voice more firm. More certain. “I’m sure she appreciates your being here, but you need to take care of yourself, too.”

“I—”

“ _Go_.”

 

Walker volunteers to keep Wheaty’s seat warm at the foot of the couch while Wheaty whips them up what barely passes as a proper lunch in the nearby kitchenette.

Delegation of tasks comes easier with time, but Wheaty remains adamant about being close.

Even so, the first signs of life go undetected by the Whitetails.

Sunny’s eyelids flutter, but don’t open as her brain comes back online. One by one her nerves reconnect with the central system to grant her rudimentary control over her limbs, but her strength is drained by a lack of proper nutrition and water intake.

It may not look like much to the naked eye, but each nervous twitch confirms what everyone has been left to wonder in her absence: _she’s going to wake up_.

When she finally musters the strength to pry her eyes open and take in her surroundings, even if only minimally, the assault of the bright white bunker lights is too much and they snap shut again.

Sunny groans.

“W-W-Wheaty—” Walker barely gets his name out before Wheaty’s perched by her side, holding her hand in both of his. “—I-I’ll g-g-get Eli.”

Sunny turns her face towards the sound of Walker’s voice before trying once again to open her eyes. This time the intensity of the light is significantly reduced and, very slowly, Wheaty’s face comes into focus. His smile is shaky as relief rolls down his cheeks in hot, damp streaks.

“Sunny—”

“ _Water_ ,” she rasps, barely a whisper.

With his help she eases herself upright for a drink from his flask—and God, does she ever need it. Wheaty keeps one hand steady on her back while the other feeds her the water like a baby from a bottle and she grabs onto his forearm with both hands like its a guardrail.

But there’s no strength in her hands.

In her current state she couldn’t even hold the flask on her own, let alone bring it up long enough to take a proper drink.

The severity of her condition sinks in as Sunny greedily sucks down every last drop of water and Wheaty gently rocks them back and forth on the edge of the couch.

That’s about the time Walker returns with Eli. Sunny’s eyes are open and alert for the first time in days, even if she can’t focus on much more than the flask in her face. She looks like a frightened animal, neglected and abused, blanketed in the comfort of Wheaty’s wiry arms.

It’s going to be a long road to total recovery - if that’s even possible - but for now she’s _awake_.

That’s a damn fine first step.

 

After a week Sunny is on her feet, if barely.

Her body is frail at first and her mobility is limited. She can’t walk across the bunker on her own without becoming worn out, but that she’s up and about at all is marked improvement, Eli says.

That’s enough to give Wheaty hope that a full recovery is still a possibility.

“Do you remember _anything_?” Wheaty asks as he carefully cuts away another lock of Sunny’s matted red hair. “I mean, about your time at the Grandview—?”

“I was pretty out of my head,” Sunny assures, but a smile traces her thin lips as she peers up at him through the warped reflection of the mirror. “I made contact with that deputy, Pratt, but Jacob knows. He’s going to come down hard on the Whitetails, now that you got me out.”

“I hear the posters are already up,” Wheaty says. _Snip_. “You know, if you ask Eli, he’ll pull you from the job—”

“ _No_ ,” Sunny says shortly.

She’s the only member of the Whitetail Militia to be put in Jacob’s chair and return with any semblance of clarity. Of _humanity_. That means that she’s been closer to Jacob Seed than anyone else in the Whitetail Mountains and _lived_.

It’s too important an operation to abandon, but given Sunny’s recent qualifications, quitting isn’t an option.

Even with Eli’s support, she knows, Tammy wouldn’t hear it.

She’s already _tainted_.

“You weren’t there. You didn’t _see_ what Jacob does to people… That deputy, he’s in far worse shape than I am and he’s still in there. But he hasn’t been in the chair yet, hasn't— ” She stops short of saying _hasn’t been broken_. “I _can’t_ give up now. I’m already in it this deep: I _have_ to finish what I started.”

Wheaty’s concern is written all over his face as he stares back at Sunny in the mirror, hands idle on her shoulders. “Eli won’t let you go back out there alone.”

“Jacob _needs_ to be stopped.”

“Damn it, Sunny—!”

“I know, Wheaty,” she says, softer this time, and she reaches up to place her hands over his. “I need you to pray for me while I’m out there. We’re still a long way from the finish line on this one—we can’t afford to lose.”


End file.
